September 2021

On September 29, 2021, the University of Limerick –  Ireland, coordinator of the ERASMUS+ Collaborative Partnership “BRAnd Values Alignment through Dual Career (BRAVA-DC)” (622824-EPP-1-2020-1-IE-SPO-SCP), organized online the second project meeting with the partner’s University of Rome3 – Italy,  University of Ljubljana – Slovenia, European Platform for Sport Innovation (EPSI) – Belgium, Elite Sport Academy Aarhus (ESAA) – Denmark, Human Age Institute Foundation (FHAI) – Italy, University of Niš – Serbia, European University Sports Association Institute (EUSA) – Slovenia, and the European Athlete as Student Network – Malta).

The project progression was discussed, including the achievements, future actions, and dissemination activities. In particular, the primary focus of BRAVA-DC is on the enhancement of a dual career of employee-athletes and employee coaches in business-oriented companies.

To define a solid basis for supporting dual career in the workplace and facilitate appropriate brand alignment strategies and Corporate Social Responsibility policies, the scientific literature was analysed. In particular, a conceptual manuscript on dual career elements to be aligned to successfully manage sustainable strategies and practices of corporate brands has been awarded the 2020-2021 Bengt Nybelius Scholarship and will be presented at the 2021 FISU World Conference on December 13-14, 2021.

A further collection of information on the athletes’ and coaches’ needs and barriers of dual career at the workplace was planned. This collected evidence- and eminence-based information will be used to develop a European framework and guidelines.

After more than 2.5 years of implementation, the Erasmus + Sport-funded project EdMedia ends this September, with the main goal of proactively changing the attitude towards an athletes’ dual career by deliberately shaping a positive image and encouraging sports organizations to pursue the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Dual Careers of Athletes.

Partners from different EU countries have contributed to this goal: Lithuanian Sports University, Lithuania (LSU), University of Rome Foro Italico, Italy (UNIROMA), European University Sports Association, Slovenia (EUSA), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania (UAIC), University of Valencia, Spain (UV), German Sport University Cologne, Germany (GSU), University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (UL), European Athlete as Student (EAS) Network. 

A detailed analysis was carried out during the project to assess the extent to which the EU Guidelines for the Dual Career of Athletes are being implemented in the participating countries, with particular emphasis on 7 of the 36 recommendations related to a systematic approach to dual careers. The results of the project are available on the project coordinator’s (Lithuanian Sports University) website: https://www.lsu.lt/en/project-edmedia/. 

During the project, implementation was developed an online platform where athletes, coaches, sport journalists and other stakeholders can find information on what a dual career is for athletes, why it is important and how to use social media to raise awareness of a dual career beyond athletes, but also among the general public, which is shared by athletes from different countries. It is important to mention that the focus was not so much on presenting the importance of the dual career itself, but also on creating a video-based learning platform for athletes seeking a dual career where they can find tips on how to present themselves on social media.

So we invite athletes to actively use the online platform developed during the project to create their own story with EdMedia ….